Lecture 06 - Hormone Synthesis And Action Flashcards
1
Q
What is intracrine signalling?
A
- Generated by a chemical acting within the same cell
2
Q
What is autocrine signalling?
A
- Signals where a chemical acts in the same cell
3
Q
What is paracrine signalling?
A
- Chemical communication between adjacent cells in a tissue/organ
4
Q
What is endocrine/neuroendocrine signalling?
A
- Chemicals released by specialised cells into circulation to act on a distant target tissue
5
Q
What are the differences between endocrine and nervous tissue?
A
- Chemical coordinator:
E: hormone - many different types each affecting different specific tissue
N: NT - few types, secreted only into target tissue - Speed of effect:
E: generally slow
N: generally rapid - Duration of effect:
E: generally long-lasting
N: generally short-lived - Localisation if effect:
E: secreted into blood therefore widespread
N: secreted into target cell so effect very localised - Boundaries become blurred as some hormones are secreted from nerve endings (neuroendocrine)
6
Q
What is endocrinology?
A
- Endocrinology is the study of hormones
- These are substances secreted into the blood by specialised cells in glands
- They are carried in the blood to receptors on target organs (via endocrine, autocrine, paracrine)
- Present in minute concentrations and bind to receptors to influence cellular reactions
7
Q
What are endocrine glands?
A
- Release secretions (hormones) into blood directly from cells (apart from paracrine), ductless
8
Q
Why are exocrine glands?
A
- Release secretions outside the body, may be ducted
9
Q
What are mixed glands?
A
- Mixture of endocrine and exocrine, occurs in pancreas which produces digestive juice as well as insulin, glucagon and somatostatin
10
Q
How are hormones controlled?
A
- Feedback is the process by which the body senses change and responds it
- Negative - most common, the body senses change and activates mechanisms to reduce it
- Positive - process by which body senses change and activates mechanisms to amplify it
11
Q
What is an endocrine axis?
A
- The target tissue for a hormone may be another endocrine gland (via tropic hormone)
- The functional grouping of endocrine glands is called an endocrine acid
- Faults may occur along the axis
12
Q
What is the hypothalamo-pituitary axis? I
A
- TRH released by hypothalamus
- This stimulates anterior pituitary to release TSH
- This binds to receptors in the thyroid gland
- This stimulates secretion of T3 and T4
- This affects cells of the body
- When blood concentrations of the hormones increase above a set level, TRH secretion is inhibited
- Example of negative feedback
13
Q
What are the three main groups of hormones?
A
- Protein/peptide hormones
- Steroid hormones
- Amine hormones
14
Q
How do peptide hormones work?
A
- Most common type of hormone
- Hydrophilic so doesn’t need to be carried in the blood
- Stores in membrane bound vesicles for release via exocytosis
- Produced on ribosomes (rER) as a large precursor molecule (pre-hormone)
- Pre-hormone is converted to prohormone and then to hormone
- May be transported to Golgi in certain cases
15
Q
How is insulin, a peptide hormone, produced?
A
- A large precursor allows structural specificity.
- Signal peptide is cleaved and covalent S-S bonds are formed. Preproinsulin becomes proinsulin.
- Proinsulin is further cleaved into a C-peptide and insulin.
- Endoprotease PC2 and PC3 and carboxypeptidase involved.